The Early Years
(12 Jul 1921 -
27 Jan 1942)
Army Air Forces
(28 Jan 1942 -
1 Aug 1943)
Post Ploesti
(2 Aug 1943 -
Present)
Official MOH Citations:
2nd Lt. Lloyd H. Hughes
(Lloyd "Pete" Herbert Hughes, Jr. - 12 Jul 1921 - 1 Aug 1943)
Source: Personal papers. Newspaper article from Page 4 of the San Antonio Express, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, USA, dated Tuesday Morning, 7 Mar 1944.
HUGHES
WAS FIRST AGGIE TO WIN MEDAL OF HONOR
COLLEGE STATION, Tex., March 6. - 2nd. Lt. Lloyd H. Hughes of Corpus Christi, Tex., and San Antonio, who lost his life Aug. 1, 1943, when he flew a bomber in the Ploesti, Rumania oil field raid, was, as far can be learned, the first Texas A. & M. College ex-student to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Hughes attended A. & M. as a freshman for two semesters. He was one of the Aggies who quit school to enter the armed services the day after Pearl Harbor raid [sic].
The war department announced March 4, that Hughes has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. A citation stated that although the lieutenant's plane was ablaze, he chose to drop his load of bombs on the target rather than try a forced landing.
Corrections: Pete resigned from Texas A&M College on 3 Dec 1941, four days before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Note: Pete was the first of seven Texas Aggies to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II.
First published: July 17, 2008
Last updated: August 22, 2010
